Happy Birthday
by TheSkySpiritsTalentShow
Summary: "What have I done, Skipper? I killed our child! OUR CHILD!" Marlene screamed, clutching her pillow close to her chest. "I m a MONSTER!" "Marlene…" He knelt next to her and tried to comfort her. "I would give anything to turn time back…just hold my little baby in my arms…" She started crying and Skipper pulled her in for a hug. A Skilene song-fic (Humanized)


**A\N: I love this song…**

**Song: Happy Birthday – Flipsyde ft Piper**

**Pairing: Skilene**

**Rated T for mentions of sex, abortion and birth.**

**Disclaimer: The song belongs to Flipsyde and Piper and the characters to DreamWorks. **

_**Key:**_

_**Song lyrics**_

_Flash Backs_

Present

**-8-**

_**Happy Birthday...**_ _**so make a wish.**_

Among the crying children, worried parents and little kids sat a man in casual jeans, white shirt and black jacket. His messy black hair made him look frazzled, but his deep blue eyes were alert, fixed on the toddlers playing with their toys. Parents noticed and watched him carefully.

But Skipper didn´t notice the threatening and worried looks he received from the adults. His mind was far, far away.

_**Please accept my apologies, wonder what would have been,**_

A few years ago, he had a child of his own. He was eighteen then and had a beautiful girlfriend.

They were happy together, more mature than most couples their ages, even though they got into mischief every once in a while. They didn´t go clubbing often, but when they did, it was all night, full power, no control. The last party they went on was a blast and they enjoyed the alcohol and each other a lot.

But the following month, his girl, Marlene called him into their apartment living room, her normally sparkling brown eyes dull and scared.

She was pregnant.

_**Would you've been a little angel or an angel of sin?**_

_**Tom-boy running around, hanging with all the guys,**_

_**Or a little tough boy with beautiful brown eyes?**_

The decision was made quick and more out of panic than thought. Their parents couldn´t know and they couldn´t possibly be parents **now**! Skipper was going to military school and Marlene wanted to study.

The doctors told them exactly what they wanted to hear. "It´s your life, you´re too young to become parents. You are too smart to stay at home. This is the right choice."

_**I paid for the murder before they determined the sex,**_

_**Choosing our life over your life meant your death.**_

_**And you never got a chance to even open your eyes...**_

It was quick and silent. They went into the hospital, arranged the appointment, paid and went home.

_As they walked home, holding hands in silence, Marlene suddenly looked up at her boyfriend with tears in her eyes. "It never even got to see our faces."_

_Skipper put his arm around her shoulders. "Don´t worry, sweetheart. It´s all over now. We did the right thing. We can just go home and forget about today and go on with our lives."_

_**Sometimes I wonder, as a fetus if you fought for your life?**_

_**Would you have been a little genius, in love with math?**_

_**Would you have played in your school clothes and made me mad?**_

_**Would you have been a little rapper like your papa the Piper?**_

_**Would you have made me quit smoking by finding one of my lighters?**_

_**I wonder about your skin tone, the shape of your nose,**_

_**And the way you would have laughed and talked, fast or slow.**_

He couldn´t help but wonder about his baby. Had it been a girl or boy?

Would it have Marlene´s brown eyes or his blue ones? Maybe a mix of both?

Maybe he/she would beat everyone at school in math and grow up to be a genius. Maybe he/she would pick fights and become a world champion wrestler.

Would he spend time in the kitchen, helping his mother cook or would she be a little soldier, keeping watch at home with a baseball bat?

_**Think about it every year, so I picked up a pen.**_

_**Happy Birthday. Love you, whoever you would have been.**_

_**Happy Birthday.**_

Time passed. Marlene had been depressed those first five months after the abortion, but she pulled herself together and indulged in her studies as to not raise suspicions. But Skipper knew she wasn´t over the death of her child. He had found a note once, shoved deep in her dresser. The drawn picture of a girl holding a child with the words, "I´m so sorry" scribbled over it.

_**What I thought was a dream (Make a wish)**_

_**Was as real as it seemed (Happy Birthday)**_

_**What I thought was a dream (Make a wish)**_

_**Was as real as it seemed. **_

_**I made a mistake!**_

"_What have I done, Skipper? I killed our child! OUR CHILD!" Marlene screamed, clutching her pillow close to her chest. "I´m a MONSTER!"_

"_Marlene…" He knelt next to her and tried to comfort her._

"_I would give anything to turn time back…just hold my little baby in my arms…" She started crying and Skipper pulled her in for a hug._

_**I've got a million excuses to why you died,**_

_**And other people got their own reasons for homicide.**_

_**Who's to say it would have worked, and who's to say it wouldn't have?**_

Skipper and his team have battled against a mad scientist a couple of times. His name was Francis Blowhole. The lunatic had tried many times to fire his crazy weapons at some innocent civilians. So far he hadn´t really killed anyone, but he came close.

Skipper hated Francis. Not because he liked mocking Kowalski about the boy´s intelligence or because he wanted everyone dead. No, he hated him because every time they thwarted the villain, every time he failed, Skipper had to think about his success.

How he successfully killed his kid. No hero came in and stopped the doctors. No one knocked the needle out of his hand. The leader himself only stood by Marlene´s bed, holding her hand as they watched the syringe poke into her stomach.

She gasped in pain, he squeezed her hand and its heart stopped beating.

_**I was young and struggling, but old enough to be your dad.**_

_**The fear of being my father has never disappeared,**_

_**I ponder it frequently while I'm sipping on my beer.**_

_**My vision of a family was artificial and fake,**_

_**So when it came time to create I made a mistake.**_

Family. Skipper had two visions of that word. One, where he and Marlene would be bound to their home, having to deal with screaming babies and stress all day. They would be left with a rebellious kid and no dreams.

Two, a child who would be robbed of its childhood, drilled to be obedient and smart. Skipper had been afraid of being a father, too soft and spoil his child or too harsh and ruin it.

Marlene had been only seventeen, young and radiant. She had thought the worries and duties of being a mother would tie her down. Permanently.

_**Now you've got a little brother. Maybe he's really you,**_

_**Maybe you really forgave us knowing we was confused,**_

_**Maybe every time that he smiles it's you proudly knowing**_

_**That your father's doing the right thing now.**_

That´s why he was in the hospital. Marlene was pregnant again. Long time guilt gave way to excitement and the young couple promised they´ll be the best parents ever. It was like the Universe forgave them, gave them a second chance, saying: "Maybe this time you´ll accept the little miracle we´re giving you."

_**I never tell a woman what to do with her body,**_

_**But if she don't love children then we can't party.**_

_**Think about it every year, so I picked up a pen.**_

_**Happy Birthday. Love you, whoever you would have been.**_

_**Happy Birthday.**_

_They lay on the bed, tired but excited, blanket over their bare bodies just like three years ago. _

"_Skipper?" Marlene asked as her boyfriend stroked her brown hair. _

"_Hm?"_

_She hesitated, then scooted closer to his warm body. "What if I get pregnant again?"_

_His response came quickly and loudly, she felt the vibrations of his voice against his chest. _

_The determination and love that came with those words made her smile._

"_We keep it."_

_**What I thought was a dream (make a wish)**_

_**Was as real as it seemed, (Happy Birthday)**_

_**What I thought was a dream (yeah, make a wish)**_

_**Was as real as it seemed...**_

_**I made a mistake.**_

It was coming. She could feel it.

Marlene squeezed her eyes shut, her body shaking. The nurses rushed about her, soothing her with words and assisting her through every labor pain.

They guided her to a bed and helped her get in. The pain was great and Marlene could feel the baby pushing its way out.

_**From the heavens to the womb to the heavens again,**_

_**From the endin' to the endin', never got to begin.**_

_**Maybe one day we could meet face to face,**_

_**In a place without time and space.**_

_**Happy Birthday.**_

A door slammed open and rushed footsteps hurried over to her side. She felt a warm hand slip into hers and her lover´s voice beside her. "Marlene…Marlene…I´m here…" Obviously the tough commanding officer was struggling not to panic.

Skipper was terrified, all the loud talking, his wife´s pain and the rushed procedure to get the human being out of Marlene´s stomach. But he tried to calm himself and held her hand, kissing hers when she clutched his tighter, telling her to relax.

_**What I thought was a dream (make a wish)**_

_**Was as real as it seemed, (Happy Birthday)**_

_**What I thought was a dream (make a wish)**_

_**Was as real as it seemed...**_

_**I made a mistake.**_

And then the head showed up. The rest of the baby slid out and a nurse asked him if he wanted to cut the cord. The officer obliged and slit the flesh carefully, but neither his wife nor his child felt pain.

The baby started wailing and the doctor washed it in warm water and wrapped it in a blanket.

He handed the little bundle to Skipper.

The leader stared down at the newborn. Its hair was dark and its skin wrinkly and pure red, but it was one of the most precious and fragile being Skipper had ever seen. He sat down next to Marlene who was crying. She took the baby and hugged it tenderly before starting to feed it.

The doctor put a hand on his shoulder and congratulated them, but the young couple barely registered his words. They sat together on the hospital bed, holding their child, watching it sleep peacefully in the arms of its mother. Both stayed silent for the longest time, but that hour was filled with overwhelming fear and love for the tiny creature that had just came into the world, demanding their attention and admiration.

Skipper slipped his hand into Marlene´s and she smiled at him. "What should we name him?"


End file.
